Illinois' Lake County Sheriff's Office is asking for help naming their newest K-9 deputies

LAKE COUNTY, Ill. (WLS) -- The Lake County, Illinois, Sheriff's Department is calling upon the youth to help name their two new K-9 deputies.

The sheriff's office is in the final process of selecting their newest canines, which will be male German shepherds between ages 18 and 24 months old.

The new pups will join these eight current K-9 deputies Axel, Boomer, Danno, Dax, Duke, Echo, Ryker, Tera(byte).

Combined, they locate missing people, fleeing suspects, numerous discarded firearms or other evidence, hundreds of pounds of illegal drugs, sniff for explosives, and search for illegal digital evidence, the sheriff's office said.

"Our canines are an incredibly valuable asset to everyone who lives or works in Lake County. Our goal is to have at least one of our canines on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to assist our sheriff's deputies and municipal partners. I am very excited to again ask our youth to participate in the naming of our two newest canines and I look forward to seeing their selection," Sheriff John D. Idleburg said.

Asking the youth to help name the newest additions to the force is part of a tradition, officials said.

Lake County youth currently enrolled in kindergarten through senior year of high school are invited to participate.

The rules of the naming process are as follows:

Winners can take part in their swearing-in ceremony. Name submissions are due by 12.00 p.m. on September 9.

To submit your suggested K-9 names, click here.